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Phantom: Super Ghost BCI Progression Thread

First feeding was a success! So much less stressful then feeding my BP which Iíll have to do later tonight.

The laundry room where I keep my new BCI was pretty dark so I turned on a small lamp and proceeded to heat up the smallest mouse in the bunch (14grams) with a hair dryer. When I opened the tub, he was sitting their motionless and didnít seem to react to the dangling mouse. I had to gently tap him to get him out of his trance. Once he snapped out of it, he was in hunting mode and struck like a champ!!

Re: Phantom: Super Ghost BCI Progression Thread

Originally Posted by ckuhn003

First feeding was a success! So much less stressful then feeding my BP which Iíll have to do later tonight.

The laundry room where I keep my new BCI was pretty dark so I turned on a small lamp and proceeded to heat up the smallest mouse in the bunch (14grams) with a hair dryer. When I opened the tub, he was sitting their motionless and didnít seem to react to the dangling mouse. I had to gently tap him to get him out of his trance. Once he snapped out of it, he was in hunting mode and struck like a champ!!

Re: Phantom: Super Ghost BCI Progression Thread

Originally Posted by ckuhn003

First feeding was a success! So much less stressful then feeding my BP which Iíll have to do later tonight.

The laundry room where I keep my new BCI was pretty dark so I turned on a small lamp and proceeded to heat up the smallest mouse in the bunch (14grams) with a hair dryer. When I opened the tub, he was sitting their motionless and didnít seem to react to the dangling mouse. I had to gently tap him to get him out of his trance. Once he snapped out of it, he was in hunting mode and struck like a champ!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! Good to hear!

Glad he struck and there was no doubt he was interested in food!

Once he knows food shows up there, watch your fingers!

I am convinced Behira thinks about food about 98% of the time, unless I "snap" her out of it with the hook or I am holding her, that's pretty much what she thinks about.

Seriously, very happy he ate on the first try. Here's to a lifetime of successful feedings! Behira has refused one meal of about 30, and that was the day she shed and I handled her to take out shed and clean up the tank, etc.

Basically, BCI's are garbage disposals (as are my corn snakes - Figment has missed 1 meal in 5 years - also shed related) and BP's are "Selective Feeders," which is a nice way of saying big pain in the butt. Don't get me wrong. I adore Shayna, but if I had $1 for every F/T rat I've wasted!

Re: Phantom: Super Ghost BCI Progression Thread

Originally Posted by Jus1More

CK...I am so glad he arrived safe!! He looks absolutely stunning, I just LOVE the light coloring. BIG WARM WELCOME to Sir Phantom!!! Keep us posted on how he settles in. [IMG]file:///C:\Users\043881\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/IMG]

Hey Just1MoreÖ.appreciate the kind comments! So far so good and counting the days down when I can finally start holding him!

Originally Posted by dakski

Nice! Good to hear!
Glad he struck and there was no doubt he was interested in food!
Once he knows food shows up there, watch your fingers!
I am convinced Behira thinks about food about 98% of the time, unless I "snap" her out of it with the hook or I am holding her, that's pretty much what she thinks about.
Seriously, very happy he ate on the first try. Here's to a lifetime of successful feedings! Behira has refused one meal of about 30, and that was the day she shed and I handled her to take out shed and clean up the tank, etc.
Basically, BCI's are garbage disposals (as are my corn snakes - Figment has missed 1 meal in 5 years - also shed related) and BP's are "Selective Feeders," which is a nice way of saying big pain in the butt. Don't get me wrong. I adore Shayna, but if I had $1 for every F/T rat I've wasted!

Yea, Iím not too worried about my fingers now because heís so tiny but Iím sure once he starts putting on my size it start to more of a concern! Iím so glad to hear itís not my BP thatís just wasting F/T rats

Originally Posted by richardhind1972

Really pleased phantom ate for ya
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Thanks Richard! It was a good night. Even my BP decided to eat after a month off hiatus of rejecting food.

While psychologically it's normal to be apprehensive even about small bites, it's usually not that big a deal with young snakes. You saw my carpet python the other day, she's only bitten me once accidentally when she thought she was being fed. At that time she was about 3' 9" and I barely felt it. I had to check my hand and saw yup, there's some tiny red pinprick marks so I guess she did get me. Bottom line, it's scary in your mind but you're not going to be rolling on the floor in pain or anything.

Teeth size/shape does differ between species, I'm not sure how a boa compares to a carpet in that aspect but at least they're roughly the same build so hopefully it's comparable. If anything I would expect an arboreal species like a carpet might have slightly longer teeth because they may need that extra grip to hang onto their prey as they're going to have to support their weight in the air.

You'll recall that I put on a glove with the blood python, but that's only because I know she's definitely going to bite as well as because I haven't worked with them before so I don't know how strong a bite it will be. I do know that short tails are reputed to hit fairly hard though and while she's not long she's got a lot of weight behind her. Once she's comfortable here and settles down I'll ditch the glove.

By the time your boa gets big enough that his bites are stronger, I expect he won't be inclined to give them anymore. Boas are generally a pretty mellow species, I think this is more of a thing where babies of any species tend to be nippy because they're so low on the food chain so they have to be a bit paranoid.